Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INTEGRITY LAUNCHES "BELIEVE OUT LOUD EPISCOPAL CONGREGATIONS" INITIATIVE
Enables Parishes To Add "We Really Mean It!" To "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You"

ROCHESTER, NY (February 12, 2010)—Integrity is delighted to be a partner in the transdenominational Believe Out Loud campaign launching February 14th across the country.  We are also proud to announce the Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations initiative as a component of the Episcopalian wing of the campaign.  Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations provides a much-needed national network for Episcopal parishes committed to welcoming and affirming lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as beloved children of God.   

Believe Out Loud is based in a simple truth: Privately believing LGBT persons should have an equal share in our church and society is not enough; we must publicly proclaim that belief.  Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations gives the parishes and missions of our denominations the means to do exactly that.

Over 300 Episcopal congregations already participate in welcoming parish programs through diocesan LGBT ministries or Integrity. These congregations will automatically become Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations, both widening their network and putting them in national search engines used by seekers looking for inclusive congregations.

For other Episcopal parishes, this is the chance to them to make explicit what has been implicit for many—that the "Episcopal Church Welcomes You" sign outside their church door means "We Really Mean It!" when it comes to LGBT people.  

"I constantly receive phone calls and emails from LGBT people looking for a safe place to worship," said John Clinton Bradley, Integrity's Acting Executive Director.  "By the end of the year I hope that parishes and missions in every diocese of The Episcopal Church will register themselves as "Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations."

Twenty-five years ago Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning famously proclaimed that The Episcopal Church would be a church with "no outcasts." The "Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations" initiative will help us continue to claim that proud history as we move forward together into God's future.

Visit http://bolec.integrityusa.org for more information about Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregations.  Beginning February 14^th, visit http://www.believeoutloud.com for more information about Believe Out Loud.

Press Contact: 

John Clinton Bradley, Acting Executive Director
johnclint@integrityusa.org
585-313-1059 [mobile]